Janet Fabio
The Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries (FSL) are bringing to SaddleBrooke two Arizona authors for their April and May lectures.
On April 13 Isabella Maldonado will be returning to SaddleBrooke. If you were at her earlier appearance at an FSL lecture, you know she has many interesting stories to share from her years with the FBI. Maldonado draws on that experience to add credibility and authenticity to her murder mysteries set in Phoenix. Maldonado has written two different series so far. The first was the Veranda Cruz series. Those books, in order of publication, are Blood’s Echo, Phoenix Burning, and Death Blow. Her newer series features FBI agent Nina Guerrera. This series, in sequence, includes The Cipher, A Different Dawn, and The Falcon. Watch for another new series, with the first book scheduled for publication in early June.
To find more authors with mysteries set in Arizona, look for books by local authors Leo Banks, Becky Masterman, and Mark Sublette. And most readers know that J.A. Jance writes several series of mysteries set in Arizona.
The speaker on May 11 will be Tucson author and journalist Patrick Whitehurst. The library has his 2021 book Murder and Mayhem in Tucson, which chronicles a darker side of history in Tucson. The book starts with the First Battle of Tucson in 1779 and goes on to cover the Apache massacres, the tragedy at San Xavier mission, how the 1918 Spanish Flu affected Tucson, airplane crashes, gangsters, a variety of other crimes, the 1983 Storm of the Century, and other disasters, and it ends with the Gabby Giffords shooting. This book is available from the DesertView Library in the Southwest Collection.
Interested in more local history? The Southwest Collection in the DesertView Library has a wide range of books about Tucson and, more broadly, the history of Arizona. You can find a biography of Geronimo, several histories of the City of Tucson, the journal of Sedona Schnebly, books about Arizona ghost towns, legends, and oddities, and much more! Come in and take a look. And don’t forget the National Parks Collection, which includes even more information specifically about Arizona national parks. There are some fascinating books about the Grand Canyon: mule riding, early exploration and history, and Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon.
Stop in at the DesertView Library to check out books written by the visiting authors, find more mysteries set in Arizona, or browse the Southwest Collection to find even more books about Tucson and Arizona. Our friendly volunteers will be happy to assist you. Books can also be reserved from your home via the library catalog. Use the easy link to the catalog on our website www.sblibraries.com. If you are not registered to use the libraries (free to all SaddleBrooke residents), simply stop in at either the DesertView Library or the SaddleBrooke One Library during staffed hours: Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. until noon.
Enjoy the FSL lectures and support the Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries. They provide the funding that allows the libraries to buy all these interesting and informative books for you to enjoy. Find out more at www.sbfsl.org.